Sophia Soto
While ABC’s 9-1-1 has had plenty of memorable moments throughout the series, season 9 presented Evan “Buck” Buckley with some particularly challenging ones in the latter half, such as a kidnapping arc in “Mother’s Boy,” which led to the character becoming dependent on Opioids in 9×14 and 9×15, and the sperm donor baby from season 6 making a surprise return.
Unsurprisingly, Oliver Stark rose to the occasion, bringing to life a beautiful healing journey before Buck enters his next chapter: parenthood. The season finale concludes with him welcoming Theo home after the tragic death of his parents.
“[Tim Minear] didn’t tell me about it until about episode 15 of this season, because I remember we were actually shooting the montage from the end of episode 15. I was at Buck’s house when he called me to tell me about it, and obviously, it came into play in episode 17. So, only a couple of weeks before we ended up doing it, and I was a little apprehensive, to be honest,” he shared. “I wasn’t sure what that would mean long term for the character, but he explained kind of what he was thinking and how you could rope in other characters to that, and then through the scenes as we shot them and working with Teddy and Lincoln, who are the boys that play Theo, they just won me over. They’re just so brilliant, and it really made me excited for the story.”
Since we only see a glimpse of what is to come, Stark assured me that the upcoming season will help fill in the blanks for audiences, saying, “There will be more to be explained of that process as we move into season 10, I would think, and certainly we’ll look at the difficulties involved with the process, logistically and emotionally. I know we’ll dive into why it’s Buck and why there’s nobody else that has taken him in as a foster and stepped into this role. I know those are storylines that Tim is excited to explore and reveal as we move into next season.”
Despite the fact that Buck has always been amazing with kids, he will have to lean on his found family: the 118, and specifically Eddie (Ryan Guzman), who has been raising Christopher (Gavin McHugh) as a single dad since Shannon’s death.
“I know that was one of the things that when Tim first did call me about the storyline, he noted that Buck will lean on Eddie, [who has] been a single dad. They’re going to experience many of the same things here, so obviously, having such a close relationship with somebody who has been through the exact same thing, it would be silly to not lean on that. So, I would imagine that they will be very much a part of helping and supporting Buck and Theo.”
Watch Awards Radar’s full video interview with the actor below, where we talk about his initial reaction to bringing Theo back, the season finale, how Buck is going to approach parenting, how season 10 will further explore his decision, and more.
All episodes of 9-1-1 are streaming on Hulu. This interview will contain spoilers for episode 9×18, “Hearts and Flowers.”
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